The Church Army was an Anglican religious organisation founded by Wilson Carlile in 1882, and established in Australia, in Perth, in 1932. It provided staffing and oversaw day to day operations of children’s Homes in the Newcastle Anglican Diocese: Morpeth Home for Children (St Alban’s Boys Home) (the Church Army was involved 1935-1948), St Elizabeth’s Girls Home (involved 1937-1961) and St Christopher’s Home for Little Children (involved 1937-58).
The Church Army movement was evangelical, and trained preachers to spread the word of the Gospels. It trained both women and men, and had a long-running programme of training Aboriginal evangelists.
The Church Army was supported by the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, which gave them a house in 1933. In 1935 two staff members arrived from England on board the Hobsons Bay: Captain WA Hoare and Captain DJ Young. Captain Hoare was to be attached to the staff of the Army’s headquarters in Newcastle and Captain Young was to take up duty as superintendent of St Alban’s Home for Boys at Morpeth. Captain Young’s wife travelled with him.
In 1938 an Aboriginal woman, Muriel Stanley, was brought to St Christopher’s from Yarrabah Mission in Central Australia to train as a Church Army sister. The Church Army told the Singleton Argus that they hoped she would return to her community to minister to her people.
In 2024, the decision was made to formally wind up the Church Army, after efforts to revitalise it in Australia failed.
